Spell Casting
For a list of all the spells in the model, go here. For information on the Combat System, go here. '' ''For information on the Stat System, go here. For information on Advanced Casting - such as Enchanting, wandless and warding - go here. PLEASE NOTE: Much of this page is currently a WIP, as we recently have changed Spell Bots. Much of the older information has been adjusted, but there may still be some issues or contradictions. Please do not hesitate to use the appropriate help channels in discord if you're confused! Introduction In Model Hogwarts, casting and learning spells work through a custom made Discord bot, Merlin. This guide will focus on how the Casting and Learning aspects of Merlin work, along with Modifiers and Destiny. To see everything Merlin is capable of, use this command in Discord: !help Casting and Learning Spells Model Hogwarts spellcasting works similarly Dungeons & Dragons and other tabletop RPGs in that we use a very simple dice system for casting, and familiarizing yourself with the terms will help you on your magical journey. Dice: Your character's base dice, which grows by +2 each by year. The dice are used to cast spells, with the results of roll deciding whether or not you were successful. DC/Dice Check: Every spell has a set DC, or Dice Check. For a player to successfully cast a spell, they have to meet the DC of that spell. Modifier: Because just rolling a single dice and hoping randomness is on your side is no fun, Modifiers work by increasing or decreasing your chance of success! Positive modifiers will add extra points to the results of your dice rolls, while negative modifiers will subtract. These are the two most important modifiers to remember: * Year Modifier: After each school year you finish, every roll you make will receive a permanent +1! Year modifier stacks, so after you graduate you'll automatically have +7 added to each cast. * Spell Modifiers: If there is a spell your character particularly likes or would use frequently, you can permanently increase your chance to cast that specific spell by practicing it. Each practice will result in +1 Learn Point being added to your Spell Modifier! Check the Additional Modifiers section for more information. Learn Point: You earn 3 of these every week that you can use to learn a spell. Learning a spell increases its Spell Modifier. Casting Spells To cast a spell in Discord, you use: !cast spell name Just use the name of the spell you want to cast instead. !cast can be used anywhere in the model, but please refrain from spamming it anywhere but the #bot-room. To see what spells you have Spell Modifiers in, you use: !spellbook To see what Potions Books you have modifiers in, you use: !recipebook The difficulty of a spell depends on your year and the DC of the spell. First year spells tend to be in the range of DC 1 to 5, but the maximum spell DC within Model Hogwarts is 40. You can see all spells and their DC here: Model Hogwarts Spellbook and Recipebook (aka the Spell Sheet) Success or Failure of the spell depends on whether or not you achieve the DC of the spell after you cast, and there are a few static modifiers that can make it easier to reach your goal: Year Modifier is a stacking modifier that reflects your growing magical abilities and training. You receive +1 for every school year you finish, and the effect stacks leading to a maximum year modifier of +10 by the time your character is an adult. Destiny gives you extra points you can add to your dice rolls every day, and increase the results! While you can use it all at once, you don't need to, and can split it up over multiple casts throughout the day. As a first year you start with 2 points; this number increases by 2 each year. !cast spell name 2 You can replace 2 with the number of points you'd like to use, i.e., !cast spell name 1 to only use 1 of your 2 points. Dice Chart Learning Spells To learn or practice a spell and increase your Spell Modifier in it, you use this command: !learn spell name 1 You may input as many learns as you currently have, up to the max of that spell at once by changing the number after the spell's incantation. Learn Points are required to use this command, and you receive 3 automatically each week. Even if you don't use your learns for a week, the learn points are permanent so don't worry if you get busy, they will just keep adding up until you are ready to !learn again. Spell Modifiers Each spell has it's own dedicated modifier, and you can increase that modifier by spending your Learn Points in it through the !learn command. The primary reason increase your Spell Modifier is to make it more reliable to cast, and there are two special checkpoints you can reach: * Proficiency is when you are guaranteed to cast a spell when you combine your Spell Modifier and Year Modifier. * Mastery is when you are guaranteed to cast a spell based on your Spell Modifier alone. Some spells have Mastery Bonuses that can be unlocked once you've reached mastery. What spells can I learn? Some spells have special requirements, which means they must be unlocked before you can use them. The spell sheet will display the year the spells become available, and the Unlock Requirements column will show what you need to do to learn and cast it. Using the !info spell name command you may also see a specific spell's unlock requirements. * Blank/No Requirements: Often called researchable spells, any spell available to your year that doesn't have anything in the Unlock Requirements column can be !cast and !learned right away. * Class Spells: If a spell has a specific class listed in the Unlock Requirements column, the spell will only be learnable once it has been covered in class. You do not have to attend the class to have the spell unlocked, and can see which spells have already been covered during the year by using the #spellbook channels in the Information category on Discord. ** If the spell you are interested in isn't listed in the #spellbook channel, don't worry! It will be covered before the year is over. * Special Spells: Ranging from Dark Magic to unusual and rare spells, spells marked Special are unlocked in a variety of ways. This can range from a special event in Model Hogwarts, to submitting an application if you want to use a dangerous and dark spell. If there is a special spell you are interested, use the help channels to find out how you can unlock it. Advanced Modifiers For things like combat and specific situations, there are a handful of advanced modifiers that allow you to adjust how you cast. !cast spell name cvw You only need to include the modifier you want to use, but all three may be used at the same time. * ©ombat: Disables your year modifier, requiring you to rely on your dice and spell modifiers. ** C''' is primarily used in combat scenarios, which allow for students of different years to fight on more equal ground in both player versus environment and player vs player scenarios. *** Check the Combat page for more information. * '''Non-(V)erbal: Lowers your dice size by 6 (i.e. 1d20 --> 1d14), and halves the year modifier. ** V is used when casting non-verbally, and is restricted to students who have learned non-verbal magic. *** Non-Verbal magic unlocks in 6th year, but may be learned early in 5th year by purchasing with a Token. * (W)andless: Lowers dice size by 14 (i.e. 1d20 --> 1d6), and disables the year modifier. ** W is used when you're casting wandlessly. *** Wandless magic unlocks in year 7, but may be unlocked in 6th year with a Token. *'Negative Modifiers:' You can have the bot subtract a specific number from your cast by adding a negative after it. ** This may be used in adventures to show injury, or difficulty with a specific spell. Casting and Modifier Examples * When attempting to light your wand to read at night: !cast lumos * When attempting to body-bind a foe in a fight: !cast petrificus totalus c * When using Destiny Points to help you cast a harder spell in a fight: !cast ventus 2 c * When learning a spell: !learn flipendo * When wounded and unable to cast effectively: !cast incendio -5 Learn RP Guidelines Spell learns should be accompanied by some roleplay! Below is a list of guidelines and suggestions, accompanied by a few rules regarding the spell RP system. Please note that the vast majority of these are guidelines and can be tweaked to suit your tastes, they're not mandatory and mostly intended to be prompts on how to get the brain juices flowing! * First learns should have some form of RP, these are recommended to be outside of learn room whether that be in a specific location, monologue or off screen scene. These scenes should work to establish motive for learning this spell; this can be as simple as ‘for class’ to as complex as it being part of a character’s life long goal, Later learns can be done in the learn rooms, but we do encourage some RP to go along with them, even if it’s basic. * If you feel learning in a scene would break its flow you may !learn in #bot-room, however you must link back to the channel with the RP by doing #channel-name with a search term to make it easier to find. The RP must also be done prior to you doing the !learn in this instance. * You can put multiple points in at once, so feel free to mix this up and base it on how much you feel they learned. You can put these points in any time, so take it at your own pace! Maybe one week they learn one points in Flipendo and the next week five in Diffindo, that’s up to you! * Upper years and Professors may know more about spells than you; sometimes it can be a fun RP prompt to have them walk you through their own casting process and teach you a thing or two for a learn scene. This is especially the case for more difficult spells (you can see a spells ‘difficulty’ under !info). ** Speaking of spells ‘difficulty’ we recommend starting off with lower difficult spells and building up to the higher one's, especially with lower years. This helps show a character’s growth at spellcasting. However, this is not enforced! Go with what you feel is true to your character. * Learn modifiers don’t necessarily make you a master of that spell. Some spells require additional knowledge outside your characters ability to cast the spell. One such example is Episkey which requires an in-depth knowledge of the wound you’re trying to heal on top of your learn modifier. * As learns aren’t strictly tied to rolls this gives you a variety of ways to approach the in character learning, some such examples include: ** Maybe your character is a big reader; rather than focusing on the practical elements of spellcasting they might study and study and study before they even begin to cast, allowing you to input your !learn prior to doing any spellcasting at all. This means when it comes time to cast, they’ll be ready. Likewise in classes you may do !learn during your teacher’s theory of said spells prior to the casting practicals. ** Perhaps your character learns through succeeding; prior to inputting your learns you can do a !cast and see if they successfully perform the spell. RPing this situation out you then either apply the learns or leave them for another time. ** Or perhaps your character learns equally well - or even better - from their mistakes. In this instance you can do the same !cast, but even on a failure add some learn points to the spell. Maybe they figure out their wand movement is sloppy, or they’re pronouncing the incantation wrong. ** If you feel like your character has an affinity for a specific spell (maybe they grew up with it, maybe they have some sort of mundane talent that helps them with the magical side of this spell, such as a tattoo artist understanding Imprimo). You may put points into this spell to start off with, prior to any study or practise. However, you, you must still write some form of RP for these learn points showing why your character has a natural gift here. ** Using the above methods, if you so wish you may place negative modifiers on your !cast by doing !cast Lumos -5 if you wish your character to have a particularly hard time with a specific spell. ** The flexibility of our spellbot allows you to tailor your learn narratives to fit your character, so don’t feel constrained by these suggestions even, developing the method in which your character’s learn can help create some extra flavourful RP that helps show off who they are as a person. Category:OOC Articles Category:Handbook Article Category:Bot Systems